The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1887-08-12

up to him. He was fearful sight to see
his hands, his face, his clothes were all red,
and he was bleeding from q cut on the face
and another on the hand.
"Come, Ernest he said, in hollow voice,
1--WE must clear out of thisn
III suppose So" said Ernest.
On the plain at the foot of the hill several
Of the horses were quietly cropping the grass,
till such time as the superior animal, man, |
lad settled his differences. Among them was
Ernest's black stallion, the Devil, which had
been wounded, though slightly, on the flank.
They walked toward the horses stopping on
their way to arm themselves from the weapons
which lay about As they passed the body
of the man Ernest had killed in his last strug-
gle for life, he stopped and drew the broken
assegai from his throat IA memento," said
he. The horses were caught without diff |
Guilty, and the Devil and the two next best
animals selected Then they mounted. and
rode toward the top of the ridge over which |
Ernest had seen the body Of Zulus lying In |
reserve. When they were near it Mazooku
otdown and crept to the crest on his stomach
Presently, to their great relief he signaled to
them to advance; the Zulus had moved on,
and the valley was deserted. And so the
three passed back over the neck, that an hour
and a half before they had crossed with sixty
one companions, who were now all dead.
II think we have charmed lives,n said
Jeremy, presently. "All gone except us two.
1t can't be chance"
at is fate" said Ernest, briefly.
From the top of the neck they got view
of the camp, which now looked quiet and
peaceful, with its white tents and its Union
Jack futtering as usual in the breeze.
"They must be all dead, too" said Ernest;
(which way shall we gog'
Then it was that Mazookus knowledge of
the country proved of the utmost service to
| them. He had been brought up at a kraal in
| the immediate neighborhood, and knew
every inch of the land. Avoiding the camp
altogether, he led them to the left Of the
battlefield, and after two hours ride over
rough country, brought them to a ford of the
Buffalo which he was acquainted with, some
| miles below where the few survivors Of the
massacer struggled across the river, or were
drowned in attempting to do So Following
this route they never saw a single Zulu, for
these had all departed In the other direction,
and were spared the horrors of the stampede
and of "Fugitive's Drift"
At last they gained the further side Of the
river, and were, comparatively speaking safe
on Natal ground.
They determined, after much anxious con-
sultation, to make for the little fort at Help
|
toward it, when suddenly the Zulu's quick
ear caught the sound of distant firing to their
right. 1t was their enemy, the Undi corps,
attacking Rorke's Drift. Leaving Mazooku
to hold the horses, Ernest and Jeremy dis
mounted and climbed q solitary koppie or
hill which just there cropped out from the
surface of the plain. It was of an ironstone
formation, and on the summit lay a huge fiat
slab Of almost pure ore. On to this they
climbed, and looked along the course Of the
river, but could see nothing. Rorke's Drift
was hidden by a rise In the ground. All this
time dense thunder cloud had been gather
ing in the direction of Helpmakaar, and was
now, as is common before sunset in the south
African summer season, travelling rapidly up
against the wind set In faint rainbow as in
frame. The sun, on the other hand, was
sinking toward the horizon, so that his Golden
beams, flying across a space of blue sky,
impigned upon the black bosom of the cloud,
and were reflected thence In sharp lights and
broad shadows, flung like celestial spears and
shields across the plains of Zululand. Isandhl-
wana's mountain was touched by one great
ray which broke in glory upon his savage
crest, and crowned him that days king of
death, but the battlefield DER which he
lowered was draped in gloom. 1t was
glorious scene Above the wild expanse of
sky broken up by flaming clouds and tinted
with hues such as might be reflected from
the jeweled walls of heaven. Behind, the
angry storm, set in its rainbow frame like
ebony in a ring of gold. In front, the rolling
plain where the tall grasses waved, the broad
Buffalo flashing through 1t like silver snake,
the sun kissed mountains and the shadowed
slopes.
1t was a glorious scene Nature In her
I most splendid mood flung all her color
streamers loose across the earth and sky, and
waved them wildly ere they vanished iEto
nights abyss. Life, in his most radiant &C.
stasy, bazed up in varied glory before he
sunk, like lover, to sleep awhile in the arms
OF his eternal mistress-Death.
Ernest gaZed upon it and it sunk into his
heart, which, set to natures tune, responded
i ever when her hands swept the chords OF
earth or heaven. 1t lifted him above the
world and thrilled him with ndescribable
emotion. His eyes wandered over the infinite
, space above, searching for the presence of @
Cod then they fell upon Isandhlwana and
, mi rked the spot where the shadows were
deepest; where his comrades lay and gazeC
upon the glorious sky with eyes that coult
not see, and at last his spirit gave way, and
!, weakened with emotion and long toll ant
! abstinence, he burst into paroxysm o
: grief
"Oh, Jeremy" he sobbed "they are al
u dead, except you and me, and feel a coward
:. that / should still live to weep over them
y When it was over, l should have let tina
= Zulu kill me, but / was q coward and
4 fought for my life. Had but held my hant
y for a second should have gone with Alstoi
q and the others, Jeremy"
Is "Come, come old fellow, you did your bes
"a and fought for your corps like brick. N
, man could have done more"
y | hut ba,ya l,aJ ,,;tI
- them; it was my duty to die. And / do no
. care about living, and they did have bee
O. an unfortunate dog all my life. l shot m
q a cousin, / lost Eva and now have seen a.
- nv comrades killed, and /, who was thei
NJ leader alone escaped. And perhaps l hav
al not done with my misfortunes yet. Wha
+ next, wonder; what nextl'
a. Ernest's distress was so acute that Jeremy
/, looking at him and seeing that all he ha
"a gone through had been too much for hin
IN tried to soothe him, lest he should go int
70 Mysteries, by putting his arm round his waii
m and giving him good hug
in "Look here, old chap he said "it is no vi
is bothering ones head about these things, "
NJ are Just so many feathers blown about by Il
r., wind and must float where the wind blow
La us Sometimes 1t is good wind, and som
,y times a bad one, but on the whole it is ba
nj and we must just make the best of It, an
ha wait till it doesn't think it worth while
a blow our particular feathers about any NOR
W. and then we shall come to the ground, ar
,t, not till then. And now we have been I
Nh here for more than FIVE minutes, and Civ,
"A the horses bit of a rest We must be pus
da ing on If we want to get to Helpmakaar b
ba fore dark, and l only hope we shall get the
ruI before the Zulus, that's all. By Jove, he
Lu comes the storm-come onW-and Jeren
jumped off the lump of iron ore and began
descend the koppie
dy Ernest, who had been listening with
nm face in his hands, rose and followed him
iaJ silence. As he did SO, breath Of ice cold {
nd from the storm cloud, which was now rig
,ad overhead, famed his hot brow and when
had gone few yards he turned to meet
ida and to cast one more look at the scene.
~ 1t was the last earthly landscape he ey
hat saw For ut that instant there leaped fro
,od the cloud overhead fierce stream of jagg
,v light which struck the mass OF iron ore
md which they had been seated shivered a
Nav fused ii, and then ran down the side of I
rcb hill to the plain Together with the lightni
set- there came an ear splitting crack of thtind
low Jeremy who was now nearly at the bott
so Of the little hill, staggered at the shock. WI
two he recovered, he looked up where Ernest
till been standing, and could not see him.
his rushed up the hill again, calling him
ant accents of frantic grief. There was
hen answer. Presently he found him lying